The present invention relates to a toy gearing system.
The type of toy gearing systems generally known comprises a board provided with a motor-driven gearwheel and a plurality of separate gearwheels which have individual shafts for location by respective recesses of the board for rotation by the gearwheel of the board. As the recesses are formed at predetermined positions on the board, the separate gearwheels are confined to those positions and their arrangement is fairly limited. The necessity of using the board is another restriction.
The invention seeks to mitigate or at least alleviate such disadvantages by providing an improved toy gearing system.
According to the invention, there is provided a toy gearing system comprising a drive unit and at least one gear unit; said drive unit comprising a body, a gearwheel supported by the body and having at least some of its teeth exposed for gear engagement, an electric motor for rotating the gearwheel and drive transmission means provided between the motor and the gearwheel; said gear unit comprising a body and a gearwheel supported by the body for rotation by the gearwheel of the drive unit; said bodies being provided with respective self-attaching means for attaching the drive and gear units onto a flat surface at any desired positions which are not predetermined, with the gearwheels in gear engagement for simultaneous rotation.
In a preferred embodiment, the drive unit body is formed with a side slot through which at least some of the teeth of the respective gearwheel protrude out.
More preferably, the slot is part-circular and extends around the side of the drive unit body over an angle of at least 180xc2x0.
In a preferred embodiment, the gear unit body is in the form of a base supporting the respective gearwheel above it for rotation.
More preferably, the base is circular and smaller than the respective gearwheel, and the gearwheel is supported co-axially on the base such that all of its teeth protrude beyond the perimeter of the base.
It is preferred that each self-attaching means is provided by a magnetic member.
It is further preferred that the magnetic member is in the form of a sheet or tape.
Preferably, the magnetic member is affixed to the respective body by adhesive.
Preferably, the drive transmission means is provided by a speed-reduction gear train.